Cicada

Cicadas are insects in the order Hemiptera, belonging to the family Cicadidae and the superfamily Cicadoidea. They are found worldwide, with the greatest diversity in warm regions of the Americas and Asia. Cicadas are best known for the loud, buzzing songs produced by males to attract mates, a trait supported by specialized sound-producing organs called tymbals.

Cicadas spend most of their life underground as nymphs, feeding on sap from plant roots. Most species differ in their underground development period. Annual cicadas have overlapping generations and emerge every year, with nymphs maturing in two to five years. Periodical cicadas, mainly in eastern North America, emerge in synchronized, mass events every 13 or 17 years. When the nymphs reach maturity, they tunnel to the surface, molt into winged adults, and seek mates.

Adult cicadas live for about four to six weeks. They feed on tree sap using piercing-sucking mouthparts and do not bite or sting humans. Males produce loud calls by rapidly expanding and contracting the tymbals, and the sound can be extremely loud relative to body size. After mating, females lay eggs by making slits in tree branches, which can cause minor damage to young or thin branches. The eggs hatch, and the nymphs fall to the ground to begin the underground feeding phase again.

Cicadas play ecological roles as prey for predators during emergences and as contributors to nutrient cycling. They are generally not considered endangered, though periodicity and population dynamics vary by species and region.